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Great little garage

We bought this as a gift for my 18 month old son. He already has the ELC whizz around garage and loves it, so this seemed to be a good addition to his car toy collection.

The toy is approx 12 inches wide, 8 inches high (with handle extended) and 6 inches deep. It's made of strong brightly coloured plastic. The base is green, the main centre is yellow and the handle is orange.The service centre is made up of 3 garages, each with a sliding up and over door oprerated by a small latch which is easy enough for young toddlers to handle .

The first garage has a pillar- box red coloured door. When you slide the door up it reveals a chunky fire engine which immediately slides down the ramp. The middle door is white in colour and slides open to reveal another chunky car - this time in th design of an ambulance. The 3rd door is bright blue and opens to reveal a blue police car style vehicle.

Each of the cars has magnetic tow bars at the front and back, so you can attach them and pull them along in a line. They also co-ordinate perfectly with the whizz around garage cars.

The service centre takes 2 AA batteries which are contained by a screw panel underneath the base of the toy. Next to the battery compartment, there is a switch which allows you to turn the toy off completely, or set it at one of 2 volume leves, which I would describe as reasonably quiet or fairly loud.

Every time one of the garage doors is opened, the toy makes the appropriate siren sound (fire engine, ambulance or police). There is also a light on top of each garage which flashes as each door is opened.

The carry handle at the top of the garage makes it very convenient for travel. We've taken this on holiday with us and to relatives houses when we've gone out for the day. It's compact and light weight and handy in the way that it contains the 3 cars neatly and tidily.

My son loves playing with this - either by itself or in conjunction with the whizz around garage. He can easily open the garage doors by himself. The toy is well designed so that most children of 12 months plus would be able to operate the doors and therefore set off the sounds/lights by themselves. The cars roll well across wooden/laminate floors, but don't really roll on carpets (as you would expect).

We paid £10 for this set, which I would say is a reasonable price. It's played with daily, often several times a day and sturdy enough that I can see my son using it for several years to come. Overall I would highly recommend this for any car-mad toddler.

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My daughter loves her whizz around pink garage and when we saw this last week at the car boot sale for the unbelievable price of 50p we decided to get it for her.

What is it This is a plastic emergency centre or a plastic 3 pod shape with a ambulance, fire engine and police car and yes it makes the corresponding noises! supposedly suitable from 18 months to 5 years.

What does it do? Well the doors of the pod slide up and you drive the vehicle down and then it makes a noise

The toy encourages imaginative play and I would agree with this my daughters used this alongside her garage and they had to send the police out because the moron had parked badly and mummy couldn't park!! Perhaps better watch what is overheard!

They also had to get the fire engine to go and rescue the cat and then the ambulance needed to take the cat a plaster!

Cost and Stockist This toy costs £20.00 from Early learning centre or from some Mother care branches and of course is available on line at www.elc.co.uk however be warned there is a £4.95 delivery charge for ordering on line.

Play valueMy daughter has not stopped playing with this since she got it she loves the noises and she has added this in with her garage and is very happy to allow her older sister to join in ensuring a peaceful house for a while she likes joining all her cars up with the magnets and then getting the police car to go ne nah so it can get to the front !

She is also really pleased as it has a handle on so she can carry it to Grandad's where this was greeting very happily be him and her male younger cousin ensuring a very long and complex game until tea time and then Grandad did have to be persuaded to come and have his!

Recommendation I do really like this toy and it adds to the garage but equally is good on its own as well .I got mine for a steal but at £20.00 I think the early learning centre are stealing from its customers and I would recommend this brand new only if a) someone else is paying or b) it's on sale. Otherwise look out for it second hand.

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Great all rounder for all genders

What a cracking little toy, my son loves it and it gets played with most days! a fantatsic carry along toy garage with 3 emergency vehicles in. The toy comes with a fire engine, police car and ambulance, in striking colours that match the doors of the garage for developing matching skills. Easy to use toy, just open the door and send your emergency vehicles down the ramp, with the lights flashing and sirens blaring. Such a great little toy, and very typical elc quality, easy to clean, sturdy and robust. We've had this toy 2 years and with the knocks and bashes it's had, it's still going strong. The emergency vehicles are the same cars useable with the whizz down garage, and purchaseable from ELC separately, they all have the magnectic attachment so the cars can be pulled along together.

ELC state this toy is for 18 months - 5 years, which is i think accurate, my son is 3 yrs and half and still loves it. It definately develops imagination skills and independent playing, it's just a good quality all round toy that will last, at £20 a little pricey but look out for 15% days of sign up the birthday club online and get 20% vouchers for your little ones, birthday or xmas or all his or her friends too!! Saved me a bundle!

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Great toy

This is another of my daughter's favourite toys, I also bought this second hand from Ebay, as I did the Whizz Around Garage. I paid £10 for this, but you can get it brand new from ELC for £20.

It's a little set of Emergency Service vehicles (ambulance, police car and fire engine) and they live in 3 little garages which are in a row in a bubble like shape.

Each little garage has a slide up door and as you slide open the door, the vehicle pops out and as the vehicle pops out, the light above flashes and makes a siren sound.

My daughter has played with this at a local toddler group and has really loved it since the first time she saw it, and now she has one of her own, she is just in heaven!

She pretends that the cars are asleep when she puts them away, then she has to leave them for a bit while they sleep, then she goes back to them and wakes them up. She gets very annoyed if anyone (such as her baby sister) wakes them up before she is ready to allow this!

The unit is very good and sturdy, and has a carry handle on the top so your child can carry it around with them (if they wish), and the good thing about it is that the doors don't slide open accidently when they are shut so they don't lose the cars while carrying it about.

I think it's a great toy because it teaches children about emergency vehicles, rather than just playing with normal cars.

Our set is in excellent condition, even though it is second hand, it can be cleaned really easily with a baby wipe or a damp cloth.

Requires 2 x AA batteries.

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A definite recommendation!

The Emergency Service Centre from the Early Learning Centre is my son's latest toy and it is certainly a big hit. I purchased this very recently at £16.00, the price was reduced from £20.00 and after browsing the ELC website I have discovered that this offer is still current today.

This toy consists of three car ports, each with an opening door and a light at the top. There is an emergency vehicle in each port. The first has a fire engine, the second an ambulance and the third a police car. When the door to each port is opened the vehicle rolls down a ramp, the relevant siren is sounded and the light at the top of the port flashes. The co-ordinating colours of the doors and vehicles encourage little ones to match each one up.

The vehicles themselves can be joined together, in a similar fashion to train carriages, via a magnet at the front and back of each one. The Early Learning Centre also stock these vehicles separately at just £8.00. Also in the collection are a trio of flying vehicles and construction vehicles, all with the magnetic joining facility and all at £8.00 per set.

I was first attracted to this toy after browsing the Early Learning Centre's catalogue. My little boy has always been very investigative with his hands and as this toy is operated by opening shutter doors, I instantly knew that he would be drawn to it. He is a pro at opening things up, in particular the battery compartment on the television remote control!

The Emergency Service Centre certainly holds his attention and he is able to open and close the doors with relative ease. The chunky little vehicles are easily accessible and sturdy enough for rough play.

This toy is bold and colourful and the smaller details such as the rolling eyes on each emergency vehicle make it rather intriguing. It is strong and sturdy, can be transported via a handle at the top and of course after use the vehicles can be stowed away and the toy can be stored easily.

What I like most about this product is its ease of use for little hands. The manufacturers age recommendation is 18 months to 5 years, however my son plays with this under close supervision at 12 months old.

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Better than you might think, this one

Its quite big, but has a handle for carrying around, which is always a hit with a small child.

There are three doors - one red, one blue and one white. When you open the door, a vehicle rolls down the ramp, a siren sounds and the light above the door flashs.

The vehicles are a fire engine (red door and light), an ambulance (white door, green light), and a police car (blue door and light). The vehicles have magnets on the front and back so that you can connect them together, but my son never bothers. ELC also do other cars in the same range, with magnets on.

They are nice chunky little cars - my 10-month-old is enjoying them too. They have little moving eyes on the front which is quite cute although I doubt the children appreciate that as much as I do!

I was quite surprised by just how much my three-year-old plays with this - I thought it was a bit simple, but actually that is what he needs. There is lots of room for his imagination.

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A great ELC toy, which includes a police car, fire engine and ambulance, what more could a kid want?

**********Description**********

I arrived at work the other week with my son and saw that the boy I look after (Im a nanny) had been given a late birthday present. To start with I only saw the back and thought it was a funky plastic handbag/carrier (belonging to his sister). When I saw the front I realised it was a great 3 door garage. The whole thing is made from a strong plastic. The base is a lime green colour, formed into 3 slopes at the front, which cars can drive down.The main unit is a bright mustard yellow colour; this is shaped as 3 balls stuck together next to each other. On top of each ball is a small clear coloured dome, each is a different colour; on the left is red, green in the centre and blue on the right. On the front of each ball shape are doors, which are also different colours, red on the left, white in the middle and blue on the right. They each have a small circular hole in them to see what is inside and a little lip on the bottom to enable little fingers to open them. When you open the doors a plastic base inside raises slightly to tip the vehicle inside and encourage it to drive out of the garage and whiz across the floor. There is a switch on the bottom which is fairly traditional to noisy toys nowadays, you can keep it in the off position when you are not playing with it, or you need some quiet playtime!! (only possible until your child knows how to use the switch) or you can put it in the quiet position ((, or noisy position (((( whichever you can tolerate! When you have the sound on, and you open each garage door, the light on the top flashes and makes a siren noise, which is made up of different sounds all playing together, (whirring/popping/engine starting/siren.)On top of the garages, there is a strong orange handle, which can be used to carry the garage and vehicles around.

**********Vehicles**********

There are three vehicles in the set, a fire engine, an ambulance and a police car. Each vehicle is made with magnets sticking out of the front and back, to allow them to fix together, as with all magnets, they will not fix if you try to match the wrong ones, they will push away from each other. The vehicles are small and solid, made up with one piece of plastic, coloured to show features such as windows, lights etc. there are no small bits to worry about, so perfectly safe for a toddler to play with. Each one has eyes on the front which wiggle. The wheels move really easily and are fixed through the vehicle on a metal rod, although you can see it underneath, you cant get to it.

I really like this toy. From what I see on a regular basis, my son whos 18 months and the boy I look after who is 14 months like it too. They love opening the doors to make the lights flash and make a noise, even when there is no vehicle inside. The noises can get annoying if you hear them all the time, I kept the volume on low, and love the fact that you can turn it off! Although my son does look confused if nothing happens when he opens the doors. The doors themselves are easy to open and close. One thing I did notice was they had a bit of trouble holding the vehicle in the garage, and closing the door, as the base is sloping slightly and the vehicle keeps coming out until youve closed the door, sometimes you may need to help out by holding the vehicle in place, or youll get a frustrated child.

You can put whichever vehicle you want into each garage, the colour of the doors and lights can encourage the child to match up the vehicle to the right garage, but the middle light is green rather than white, like the door, so this could confuse them.

If you didnt play with the garage, your little one can get lots of enjoyment out of playing with the vehicles on their own, they are a great size for little ones to hold onto, they fix together easily and can go quite fast on a smooth floor surface, like laminate. Carpets dont work so well. For a first set of emergency vehicles they are one of the best Ive seen, they havent got small bits that come off easily, and are great for any boy or girl, all children love watching police cars and fire engines, so to have their own is a must for any toy box.

If you didnt have the volume on, you could encourage your child to make noises themselves of the sirens, and as they get older, they can act out games with other cars.

The ELC website states this product is suitable for children aged 18months  5 years. Although my son has just reached this age range, the boy I look after is a lot younger, he enjoys it just as much as my son, and Im sure with adult supervision, any child from 12 months up can enjoy it just as much.

**********Cost**********

£20.00 Occasionally ELC have special offers, so you may be able to get it cheaper.

**********Company**********

www.elc.co.uk

Early Learning CentreSouth Marston ParkSwindonSN3 4TJ08705 352 352

(From website: Early Learning Centre opened its first store in the mid 1970s and now we have 215 stores across the UK . And when you visit one of our stores, you can take our toys out the box and play with them, so you can choose the exact toy your child likes to play with best.You'll also find Early Learning Centre toys in concessions in certain Debenhams stores, Sainsbury's supermarkets and Boots the Chemist. Early Learning Centre also has over 80 international stores in 19 countries across the world.)